Located a few steps away from the main entrance of the JP Morgan building, this casual dining restaurant offers the relaxing ambiance of Filipino dining while maintaining its traditional Chinese feel. We arrived here a few minutes past 5:30 and were seated comfortably to one of the establishment’s couches. The restaurant was as empty as it could be, perhaps because of a bad choice of location or simply the budget. But it was one of the things I liked about this place, the absence of chit chattering individuals who can’t seem to stop yapping about who did what in their workspace.

I was surprised by the service of this place; within five minutes after finalizing our order and myself coming back from the public washroom, several plates of food were laid out in front of me and my sister for our consumption. We had crispy noodles, macao roast pig, radish cake and kung pao chicken.

The crispy noodles were somewhat of a disappointment, having been immersed in too much sauce for one to enjoy. Although to make up for it, the noodles absorbed as much juice that complements what’s left of the crispiness it’s supposed to have. The roast pig is good, soft but dry and the sour spicy sauce is very good. The radish cake is an excellent order, if I say so myself. The Kung Pao Chicken is okay, as I don’t have a basis to compare it with something else as of now.

Chopsticks
Unit 101, E-bloc Tower 1
Asiatown I.T. Park Lahug

Verdict: Perhaps an update in the menu would be a good thing seeing how there’s very little to choose from. Promos to attract customers too would help. The place lacks… a certain appeal that would make their customers regulars.

Big Mao

After deciding between Chinese food and Thai, we finally chose something that we haven’t eaten from before. Big Mao has been in Ayala terraces for as long as I remember, though we were practically avoiding it like a plague since there were other Chinese restaurants that appealed to us more. at lunch time, the place was packed and the attendants were busy like ants, zooming here and there to attend to their customer’ needs. When we were finally attended to, we asked to have a plate of lemon chicken, an entree of jellyfish with century egg, radish cake, braised bean curd. We also had fried pork served with plum sauce and assorted dim sum.

I like the crispiness of the jellyfish, above anything else. The softness of the tofu is something to be loved too (crispy on the outside and soft on the inside). Shame the sauce that comes with it isn't even on the same page. The radish cake wasn’t as spectacular as we thought it would be, too. But the belly slices (we had two orders of belly, to prove it) and the dim sum are more than enough to compensate for it.

So overall, it's a split decision whether or not we’ll come back to the place. Select dishes are delicious while some others are just plain weird with mismatched sauces.

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Big Mao
Ayala Terraces

Verdict:
A: 3/5

Service slow and the food isn’t that exceptional.